Health & Fitness

Many options exist for allergy relief for eyes. The one you choose will depend largely on the extent of symptoms and the type of eye allergy you have. First, you should simply try to avoid whats causing the eye allergy. Keep your house free of dust and pet dander. This might seem easier said than done if you live in a dry, dusty climate, but the extra work will be worth it, especially if you have an affinity for cats, dogs or other furry pets.

A few humidifiers can add moisture to the air and decrease the dryness in different areas of your home. Also, air conditioners can screen out allergens from outside, but the filters must be cleaned or replaced every now and then. For daily allergy relief for eyes, its important to find out what your local pollen count is before going outside for long periods of time. You can easily find this information in the daily newspaper, the weather forecast on your favorite morning television news program, 24-hour weather cable channels and the Internet.

Over-the-counter and prescription eye drops can be basic eye washes, or they may contain one or more vigorous ingredients such as antihistamines, decongestants or mast cell stabilizers. Eye drops that contain decongestants also have vascoconstrictors, which constrict the blood vessels in your eyes and thus reduce the redness. When you stop using the eye drops after a period of extended use the blood vessels can actually get bigger than the original size. The cause of this process, called rebound hyperemia, is that the blood vessels sometimes become dependent on the vascoconstrictor to stay small.

Alternative Oral Allergy Relief for Eyes
As an alternative to topical eye drops, many eye care practitioners now prescribe oral allergy relief for eyes in the form of nutritional supplements. More than ever, eye doctors are standing behind clinical studies that find herbs and other natural ingredients essential in reducing dry eye symptoms. An advantage to these herbal remedies is that they stimulate the natural production of eye lubrication, so relief is actually provided with your own tears.